Thank you Father. ST Ignatius Brianchaninov is one of my favorite Saints. His Books have showed me the way to Jesus Christ. Without his Books I would be running in circles.
There's one Protestant I know who's really latched on to one thing, saying that, " The Orthodox put their own meritorious works in place of Christ at the Jerusalem Council of 1672". He seems to be under the impression that this particular quote-mine is a smoking gun, because he keeps repeating it in all his discussions with Orthodox Christians. How I wish they could simply hear this perspective and actually absorb this understanding. Thanks for this Father.
I heard from a good Roman Catholic source- I’m not trying to straw man here, I’m trying to express accurately-that RCC believes in “merit.” That is to say, if one is in a “state of grace” (which I believe means weekly confession and mass), then one’s good works earn one “merit.” Like something God basically owes you. So when protestants are thinking about faith vs. works, they often project this RC understanding onto Orthodoxy, where it does not belong
@@living_orthodoxi was never baptized in any church but now i found the truth in the orthodox church but where i live there's no orthodox church at the moment i have orthodox prayer book which i pray daily and the Jesus prayer also i do daily but if I die before i get baptized will i go to hell this has tormenting me for long time.
@@LovingtheTruth856 Oh cut it out, what do you call your "father figure"? and the "Church Fathers, fathers of the church? Quit copying and pasting the scriptures, find something better to do than assigning labels to every word, you can discern that I'm not talking about GOD, what is wrong with YOU?
Thank you, Fr. for the video. I've read the mentioned prayer daily for many years: "O my pretentiously-merciful and all-merciful God, Lord Jesus Christ through Thy great love Thou didst some down and become incarnate so that Thou mightest save all. And again, O Saviour, save me by Thy grace, I pray Thee. For if Thou shouldst save me for my works, this would not be grace or a gift, but rather a duty; yea, Thou Who art great in compassion and ineffitable in mercy. 'For he that believeth in Me,' Thou has said, O my Christ, 'shall live and never see death.' If then, faith in Thee saveth the desperate, behold, I believe, save me, for Thou are my God and Creator. Let faith instead of works be imputed to me, O my God, for Thou wilt find no works which could justify me. But may my faith suffice instead of all works, may it answer for, may it acquit me, may it make me a partaker of Thine eternal glory. And let Satan not seize me and boast, O Word, that he hath torn me from Thy hand and fold. But whether I desire it ot not, save me, O Christ my Saviour, forestall me quickly, quickly for I perish. Thou art my God from my mother's womb. Vouchsafe me, O Lord, to love Thee now as fervently as I once loved sin itself, and also to work for Thee without idleness, diligently, as I worked before deceptive Satan. But supremely shall I work for Thee, my Lord and God, Jesus Christ, all the days of my life, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen." This pray is very clear that Eastern Orthodox do not go by works first. We go by faith first; followed by the works of Christ (not the works under the laws of Moses); followed by community with both the living and reposed, and lastly by experiential that are personal to each of us but not as community. An example of the experiential but not for others would be that on the third day after my youngest brother died, I arrived home from that trip and as I was explaining to my wife all that had happened, I saw a human shaped, dark but see through figure walk through the kitchen and stop just before the dining room\living room threshold, and just stood there. My wife and daughter stated that they couldn't see what I was seeing. The figure stood there for what seemed like a very long time but it never just vanished. Instead, the figure began to slowly fade away in it's interior field and only the outline was visible, where the outline was bright lightning, and finally that outline faded away. This is highly problematic for those under the demonic constructs of Atheism, Religious Skepticism, Agnosticism, Pagainism (including Islam), and heretical Western Christianity because they would argue that anything experiential is, by default, invalid. Those under heretical Western Christianity ignore the Apostle Paul when he states that we are to have a love for Christ and all people and in that love we are to hope in all things and believe in all things. We hope and believe until such things can be disproven. Yet even heretical Western "Christians" will state objections likened to, "Get some help!", "Are you off your meds again?", "You should be locked up in a padded cell with a hot pink straight-jacket!", "Shhhh... you're not supposed to talk about such things because it gives power to Satan and his minions!", along with numerous others. Those who speak against works catastrophically fail to realize that praying is a work; helping others is a work; fasting is a work; attending their own places of worship is a work, and for us Eastern Orthodox, we attend the Divine Liturgy (work of the people).
I pray that God bless me with a church and a priest just like Mikhail. Thank you for your videos, they are an amazing source of wisdom for people like me with no church or priest around. If the Lord wills, perhaps i´ll get the resources one day to rise a new Orthodox church around here so more could be blessed. It would be such a blessing to be able to bless others through the Lords blessings... so to speak. Peace and blessings upon you all. And praise be the the most high for guiding me to Orthodoxy☦
Батюшка Михаил, дай Бог вам здоровья! Спаси вас Господи! Вы так хорошо и доходчиво объясняете постулаты Единой Апостольской Православной Церкви людям, что даже мне, христианину с рождения, интересно. Привет вам из России, православные России молятся за братьев во Христе из Америки! Не забывайте и нас и молитесь о наших многогрешных душах. Помолитесь о рабе Божием Михаиле, который написал сей комментарий. Будем молиться о вас в Великом Новгороде, Санкт-Петербурге и Москве! Многая и благая лета, отец Михаил!
Да благословит тебя Бог, брат! ваши добрые слова и молитвы очень много значат для меня! Вы и все наши русские братья и сестры в моих молитвах и в наших молитвах здесь, в Северной Америке!
Thank you Father. I have a question I became a Believer almost two Years ago but I came to orthodoxy Just recently And unfortunately my situation is a little difficult. I live in Iran And well covertimg to christianity is illegal but that's not the point the point is there's no orthodoxy in Iran. There's a church but that seems to be always closed. I had plans to sit at the door of the church Until Someone comes but that's a tough decision that I have to make since I have to flee home for doing that (I have plans to do that anyways) but the biggest issue is that I'm not baptized. I am not an orthodox christian yet and I am not sure if I have the holy spirit so that's my first question. And the second is should I preach since Jesus did not preach until he was baptized. I also don't have a spiritual father and so i'm really alone with the theorokos and the saints.
@Desertfox21 for the most part I would agree there seems to be less structure which gives way to silly theological understandings like onness apostolic churches
A lack of English speaking Parishes in Canada is harming growth of the church . A lot of people in Toronto that I know of who want to try the Orthodox Church can’t understand the service . Is it different in Alberta? I know in the US 🇺🇸 they’re everywhere and orthodoxy is thriving there . Great video thanks Fr Mikhail
If you are up for the drive, feel free to visit All Saints of North America Orthodox Church in Hamilton. We are currently OCA but our Priest runs things more like a ROCOR Parish. I drive an hour each way myself for this treasure of a traditional English Parish. Bring your friends too we would love to have you all! Q&A with the Priest this Sunday as well after our potluck luncheon
@@UnworthySeraphim I might visit one day. It’s not for me I’m fluent in Greek , read it, write it and speak it, my wife isn’t Greek though and my children understand it although not fluent. But she makes the effort. 😊 if there was an English speaking parish nearby it would be much more beneficial. In Montreal for example it’s even worse. There’s no English speaking ROCOR churches either.
It’s a serious issue that doesn’t get talked about much .. we Orthodox say , leave Protestantism and be baptized in the Orthodox church but there’s so many hungry diverse Christians out there from different backgrounds who love the Lord and only one thing unites them all, the English language. Where are all these people gonna go ? The Greek Orthodox churches of Montreal ? 😂 ROCOR Montreal ? English is. In existent there. I know because I grew up in Montreal. Where is a Filipino or Tamil person supposed to go if they want to experience Orthodoxy?? Nowhere. The evangelicals have the monopoly on English speaking worship. It’s too bad 😢..
Catechumen here. I am full of joy to be united with the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church around Pascha. I heard it being brought up in this video that despair and life without faith are mortal sins. I am just curious, but what is the orthodox view on mortal sin? I know it cannot be the same as the Roman Catholic version of it, I am just wondering what it means in the orthodox context
Why is this still an ongoing conversation, is this video made for Protestants, the Orthodox and proper Christian stance is clear: "One can reach the Father only through faith in Christ" But "Faith without works is dead" ie: We can be saved only by faith in Christ, but is your faith really true, if you don't follow what Christ has taught us (love thy neighbour, treat others as yourself, sheeps and goats parable, good samaritan parable, do not murder, blessed are the merciful, respect your parents, be charitable, etc etc)
@@Desertfox-o2xI know I’m Orthodox. Notice “Protestantism” I had “Left Behind.” It’s a play on their words of the heretical teaching of Protestantism rapture and millennialism.
Thanks for the video.Can i ask something?Have the non orthodox people the chance to be saved outside of the church because of their good heart and intention?Can you make a video on this subject?
I remember hearing a priest say this, and it really stuck with me: "As Orthodox, we know who is saved, but not who isn't." We consider the Orthodox faith to be a true one, and as long as you believe in Christ and follow Orthodoxy to all your efforts, you should be saved (keeping in mind that the Orthodox Church doesn't have the same view of salvation as born-again Christians, in the Orthodox Church there isn't a single moment you're saved, your salvation is a journey and you must not strive from the path). However outside of the Orthodox faith, we can't tell you who is and isn't saved - only God knows.
We shouldn’t ever be so bold as to say such. There are Orthodox who think they’re guaranteed salvation. But he is right with regard to the witness of the lives of the saints.
I dont understand protestant points, they litterraly think we dont have faith just works, its like they are pointing at us and saying TRYHARD, and asking the developer to ban us
@@LadyMaria yeah no matter what you say they will say works, but that interpretation of not losing salvation its literraly born out of predestination, its kinda like haha we are chosen(maybe) your not, jesus died for us(might have died) because we are not catholic. They have been chosen by birth..., they litterraly ressurected gnosticism, please let that heresy die.
I'm officially confused. I believed in mortal sin last summer, before I was catechuman, but one of my Greek parish priests said we don't belive in it because it is a Catholic innovation. So, I threw it out my mind. Now this St. Ignatius is saying there is mortal sin. Someone help my new convert self.
@@philipschaffer9414 If the Papal Ecclesiology is true, then you must accept the New Masses as you cannot judge the First See on Morals or Faith. The Orthodox Church is open and we want your strength here, instead of being wasted on a futile battle.
The Church and The Pope by Robert Spencer (former Eastern Catholic) might be helpful for you. Easy, short, and written out of love for Roman Catholics.
I am looking for a Orthodox Church in New Zealand, Waikato region that will take on a catechumen. Please reply to this message if you can help please? God bless.
Thank you for your reply. At present I am over 2 hours away from that church and have no transport of my own. I have recently bought a motorcycle that I am saving money to have made repairs on. I also need to pass my motorcycle test to ride it once it is up and running.(This all being done to get to church) I am hoping to find somewhere closer by in the mean time if I can and perhaps share the cost of travel to church with?@Desertfox21
Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
@ESV445 It’s not that he hates the verse it’s how you use the verse to justify your doctrine of sola fide. When you see someone trying to use a verse to justify their idea that being gay is okay you’re not going to hate the verse they use but how they’re use of it.
@ESV445 Read the very next verse. It talks about good works. When we first come to Christ we have no works to offer Him, but only faith and repentance. When you receive the gift of salvation you enter into a covenant in which you honor God with good works.
Reception of heterodox by chrismation only is wrong, those people are still technically Orthodox but then so were the Pharisees at the time before the new covenant right... It's not something you want on your soul, it requires correction or repentance itself as a concept is rendered useless. How do we say the confession of the faith, the Creed, but in praxis we have abandoned the order which the Creed lays out. So Baptism is meant to be the greatest of all the works second to the Eucharistic union itself, when we talk about faith and works all that is dead without the water of life. Christ is the foundation, the origin, the Alpha, and the end, the purpose, of all. He is the whole of the faith, the summary of it, and the grace giver for spiritual good works. If we deny the Holy Tradition of baptism then our union with Christ is toast, like if I don't change my oil my car becomes toast, the baptism is the changing of the faith to the Orthodox one which is essential before all the other micro works can happen. The praxis of today is, well we avoid any spiritual laws which upset people in any kind of political or philosophical or sensual ways, in the carnal ways. It's for the state of the union among men that the methodology of divine union with Christ is put aside in this way or that, and then eventually the very concept of holiness / faith becomes something alien and threatening. Christ was divisive. In baptism he divides us from our own self, so we can put on Him. He divides the old and the new covenant, giving Himself as a rock, one that raises up the faithful and causeth those who do war against the faith to stumble. The rock is hard but out of it comes the water of life, the gentle spirit of truth, the salvific manna, the perichoretic uniting energy. That is the same water which turns the heart of stone to one of flesh, one of humanity, which is what we all require. And baptism goes on and on in the life of repentance, the water gives the power or spirit, to empower the ongoing repentance, and that is how its renewed according to Holy Tradition, so we just need it once, full and proper, and the matter is SEALED thereafter with the Holy Chrismation, then we go into the sacramental INNER SANCTUM which is Christ Himself, we put on Christ. That is real Orthodoxy, not what we see today all over the world which is really unchecked clerical apostasy and many converts being abused/neglected/mislead and getting lead down that same path. SO, let us ask, how many bishops does it take to screw a light bulb, to read the Fathers, and to go by the correct authority structure of the Holy Spirit? For we are now in times when one priest can steal all their grace from them by doing the right thing by the sacramentology of Christ, as they are doing the wrong thing together, indeed a mysterious thing but real... Once upon a time we the Church actually did the faith together, united, but many are stumbling on Christ's word, now the local bishop is like a pope sealing division and confusion. He makes it impossible for the priest to do the right thing. So let's get that fixed and we will see the faith explode, until then we are all together in a conundrum leading to a sealed deal of division from Christ in order to have permission to be apart of base society. If we can't heal the clergy then it's definitely gonna get biblical, historical regularity cannot be maintained by the Holy Spirit, the world will fall, since all that is propping it up for centuries now is the presence of the Orthodox faithful. It doesn't have to go that way in our life time, it can be avoided, but we are going to need some more elder Ephraim of arizona's to rise up...
@Desertfox21 St John of Damascus says there are eight forms of baptism, the proper official one being number five, and only one of them does not save, number 8, which is the purifying fire of hell. So through tears of repentance or martyrdom an officially non baptized person can be baptised and saved - but I am no expert on how to have tears of repentance or how to acquire a legit martyrdom so I won't try to expound upon what St John Damascus wrote. But essentially to answer your question one true form of baptism must occur, number 5/6/7, since Christ said without Baptism we can't be saved. Does Church history have saints who lacked any Orthodox baptism? I don't know but it definitely has no saints which claim that Holy Baptism is not necessary, that it's not a capital S Sacrament vital to tradition. And many canons state that if you recognize the sacraments of any non Orthodox that's a violation... Do we have saints who are in word or deed not 100 percent in line with the canons? Sure, who is really perfect but Christ? - but those imperfections do not become holy tradition. There are saints which claimed baptism outside the one true Church is valid, but their error is not maintained as Holy Tradition, that is not how doctrine operates.
@Desertfox21 Doesnt matter if they're a saint, reception was still messed up. You're not a saint so go get corrective baptism. That's what the athonite elders dictate is the right thing to do.
@Desertfox21 and before you say well how dare you assume you know better than thousands of bishops and priests, well I say how dare all they together assume they can undermine the patristic tradition, one man can maintain the correct position while all of them fall away. Look at the iconoclast period, happened before in church history and the Church still made it through thanks to the cohesion of the Holy Spirit. So you can attempt to knit together this grand theory that baptism and priesthood doesn't really need to be Orthodox like everything else, it really doesn't add up and the patristic tradition is quite clear and concise throughout Church history. It's just a collection of bad arguments based on situations of exceptional saints. There are many saints like many desert fathers that literally couldn't ever find baptism in their life, they lived among Muslims and all kinds of things, but they all maintained grace and did miracles right... Did they all in unison reject Orthodox Baptism? No of course not. So you're misusing their lives to create a novel about baptism being an open tradition not requiring Orthodoxy.
@Desertfox21 Again, see that there are saints which did many things which are exceptional and not good for us. St paisios would actually self harm. Other saints would walk into fires. All of these things are mysterious, they are not standard, we do not try them because we are pathetic unlike the saints. Go to the three most important saints, the three Holy heirarchs, they all have lengthy writings about sacramentology, they say the baptism of non Orthodox is a pagan pollution of the soul. That's what the athonite tradition is based on, apostolic and cappadocian era dogma. Your dogma comes from post enlightenment protestant ecumenists and it's a direct violation of Christ, all who approach the mysteries first must be catechized, baptized, chrismated, AND ONLY THEN are they officially ready for deeper repentance and theosis. Those who grasp after theosis without the right steps taken are violators of Christ, such as a woman who lays her hands on another woman's husband.
@Desertfox21 Not disputing the capacity of sin but trusting in God who gave us faith to also sustain our works ...Hebrews 4:14-16 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
@Desertfox21 Please read these two verses together. It should help you. 1 John 2:1-2 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. Hebrews 10:26-27 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
The Church has that right. Read John. Did Jesus not say “I give you the power to bind and loose. What you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven?
@@living_orthodox I see so as an individual you say you can’t make those decisions but the church can? I can understand that delineation. I disagree but I get the view if I’m getting right.
Thank you Father. ST Ignatius Brianchaninov is one of my favorite Saints. His Books have showed me the way to Jesus Christ. Without his Books I would be running in circles.
We are saved by healing our souls, which is achieved by eliminating our passions. We can not eliminate our passions without the grace of God.
I believe what CS Lewis said: faith and works are like two blades on a pair of scissors, they work together
Hi could you suggest one of CS Lewis’s books, iv heard a lot about his quotes but I really don’t know what should I read
@@jadendsouza2238 You could start with Narnia or Mere Christianity. Screw tape letters is good too.
@@V4nillakid thank you 🙏🫶
@@jadendsouza2238Good stuff on on the YT channel CS Lewes Doodles. The drawings illustrating the text are v useful
There's one Protestant I know who's really latched on to one thing, saying that, " The Orthodox put their own meritorious works in place of Christ at the Jerusalem Council of 1672". He seems to be under the impression that this particular quote-mine is a smoking gun, because he keeps repeating it in all his discussions with Orthodox Christians. How I wish they could simply hear this perspective and actually absorb this understanding. Thanks for this Father.
God bless you! Keep praying for this person
Love your work Father. Had a conversation with a protestant on this topic. I'll direct him here! ☦️
I heard from a good Roman Catholic source- I’m not trying to straw man here, I’m trying to express accurately-that RCC believes in “merit.” That is to say, if one is in a “state of grace” (which I believe means weekly confession and mass), then one’s good works earn one “merit.” Like something God basically owes you. So when protestants are thinking about faith vs. works, they often project this RC understanding onto Orthodoxy, where it does not belong
@@living_orthodoxi was never baptized in any church but now i found the truth in the orthodox church but where i live there's no orthodox church at the moment i have orthodox prayer book which i pray daily and the Jesus prayer also i do daily but if I die before i get baptized will i go to hell this has tormenting me for long time.
@@living_orthodoxIs your church the one started by Jonas or by Photius or Dioscorus ect...?
Ha I was just reading St Ignatius Brianchaninov’s writing on this topic from vol1 of his collected works: The Field
I highly suggest all the others in the series. They’re amazing
Your channel has been a blessing, father. You've done very much for me, and I appreciate it. God guide your ministry, good father.
@@LovingtheTruth856
Oh cut it out, what do you call your "father figure"? and the "Church Fathers, fathers of the church? Quit copying and pasting the scriptures, find something better to do than assigning labels to every word, you can discern that I'm not talking about GOD, what is wrong with YOU?
@@LovingtheTruth856
Stop this nonsense... That's not what it means, we can call people fathers of things. 🤦🏻♂️
Thank you, Fr. for the video. I've read the mentioned prayer daily for many years:
"O my pretentiously-merciful and all-merciful God, Lord Jesus Christ through Thy great love Thou didst some down and become incarnate so that Thou mightest save all. And again, O Saviour, save me by Thy grace, I pray Thee. For if Thou shouldst save me for my works, this would not be grace or a gift, but rather a duty; yea, Thou Who art great in compassion and ineffitable in mercy. 'For he that believeth in Me,' Thou has said, O my Christ, 'shall live and never see death.'
If then, faith in Thee saveth the desperate, behold, I believe, save me, for Thou are my God and Creator. Let faith instead of works be imputed to me, O my God, for Thou wilt find no works which could justify me. But may my faith suffice instead of all works, may it answer for, may it acquit me, may it make me a partaker of Thine eternal glory.
And let Satan not seize me and boast, O Word, that he hath torn me from Thy hand and fold. But whether I desire it ot not, save me, O Christ my Saviour, forestall me quickly, quickly for I perish. Thou art my God from my mother's womb. Vouchsafe me, O Lord, to love Thee now as fervently as I once loved sin itself, and also to work for Thee without idleness, diligently, as I worked before deceptive Satan.
But supremely shall I work for Thee, my Lord and God, Jesus Christ, all the days of my life, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen."
This pray is very clear that Eastern Orthodox do not go by works first. We go by faith first; followed by the works of Christ (not the works under the laws of Moses); followed by community with both the living and reposed, and lastly by experiential that are personal to each of us but not as community.
An example of the experiential but not for others would be that on the third day after my youngest brother died, I arrived home from that trip and as I was explaining to my wife all that had happened, I saw a human shaped, dark but see through figure walk through the kitchen and stop just before the dining room\living room threshold, and just stood there. My wife and daughter stated that they couldn't see what I was seeing. The figure stood there for what seemed like a very long time but it never just vanished. Instead, the figure began to slowly fade away in it's interior field and only the outline was visible, where the outline was bright lightning, and finally that outline faded away.
This is highly problematic for those under the demonic constructs of Atheism, Religious Skepticism, Agnosticism, Pagainism (including Islam), and heretical Western Christianity because they would argue that anything experiential is, by default, invalid. Those under heretical Western Christianity ignore the Apostle Paul when he states that we are to have a love for Christ and all people and in that love we are to hope in all things and believe in all things. We hope and believe until such things can be disproven. Yet even heretical Western "Christians" will state objections likened to, "Get some help!", "Are you off your meds again?", "You should be locked up in a padded cell with a hot pink straight-jacket!", "Shhhh... you're not supposed to talk about such things because it gives power to Satan and his minions!", along with numerous others.
Those who speak against works catastrophically fail to realize that praying is a work; helping others is a work; fasting is a work; attending their own places of worship is a work, and for us Eastern Orthodox, we attend the Divine Liturgy (work of the people).
I pray that God bless me with a church and a priest just like Mikhail.
Thank you for your videos, they are an amazing source of wisdom for people like me with no church or priest around.
If the Lord wills, perhaps i´ll get the resources one day to rise a new Orthodox church around here so more could be blessed.
It would be such a blessing to be able to bless others through the Lords blessings... so to speak.
Peace and blessings upon you all. And praise be the the most high for guiding me to Orthodoxy☦
Amín, many thanks to this great Father Mikhail, as well as Fr. Spyridon and
Fr. Nathaniel, they've helped me much.
Батюшка Михаил, дай Бог вам здоровья! Спаси вас Господи! Вы так хорошо и доходчиво объясняете постулаты Единой Апостольской Православной Церкви людям, что даже мне, христианину с рождения, интересно. Привет вам из России, православные России молятся за братьев во Христе из Америки! Не забывайте и нас и молитесь о наших многогрешных душах.
Помолитесь о рабе Божием Михаиле, который написал сей комментарий. Будем молиться о вас в Великом Новгороде, Санкт-Петербурге и Москве! Многая и благая лета, отец Михаил!
Да благословит тебя Бог, брат! ваши добрые слова и молитвы очень много значат для меня! Вы и все наши русские братья и сестры в моих молитвах и в наших молитвах здесь, в Северной Америке!
I never forget my Russian friends and Pray often.
Thank you Fr. youve helped me a lot.
My favorite saint ❤
Amazing Video father! I thank you so much for your videos that have taught me so much on my journey through Christianity and Orthodoxy!
Thank you Father.
I have a question I became a Believer almost two Years ago but I came to orthodoxy Just recently And unfortunately my situation is a little difficult.
I live in Iran And well covertimg to christianity is illegal but that's not the point the point is there's no orthodoxy in Iran. There's a church but that seems to be always closed. I had plans to sit at the door of the church Until Someone comes but that's a tough decision that I have to make since I have to flee home for doing that (I have plans to do that anyways) but the biggest issue is that I'm not baptized. I am not an orthodox christian yet and I am not sure if I have the holy spirit so that's my first question. And the second is should I preach since Jesus did not preach until he was baptized.
I also don't have a spiritual father and so i'm really alone with the theorokos and the saints.
@Desertfox21 thanks for you response brother God bless you
Excellent, Father.
I'd honestly love to attend an orthodox service just to see how different it is but it's in another city
@Desertfox21 I get what you mean maybe I'll get the courage to go one day
@Desertfox21 for the most part I would agree there seems to be less structure which gives way to silly theological understandings like onness apostolic churches
@@brainman67
I drive 84 miles one way to Church just for the Divine Liturgy.
Though that should be changing. And I pray it does.
@@acekoala457 yeah I don't got a car and it's hard to get my friend to give me a ride to any of the churches in our area
@Desertfox21 that's an interesting idea
A lack of English speaking Parishes in Canada is harming growth of the church . A lot of people in Toronto that I know of who want to try the Orthodox Church can’t understand the service . Is it different in Alberta? I know in the US 🇺🇸 they’re everywhere and orthodoxy is thriving there . Great video thanks Fr Mikhail
There are a few OCA Parishes in Toronto. Those will be in English.
Here in Lethbridge I am the rector of an English speaking ROCOR parish.
If you are up for the drive, feel free to visit All Saints of North America Orthodox Church in Hamilton. We are currently OCA but our Priest runs things more like a ROCOR Parish. I drive an hour each way myself for this treasure of a traditional English Parish. Bring your friends too we would love to have you all! Q&A with the Priest this Sunday as well after our potluck luncheon
@@UnworthySeraphim I might visit one day. It’s not for me I’m fluent in Greek , read it, write it and speak it, my wife isn’t Greek though and my children understand it although not fluent. But she makes the effort. 😊 if there was an English speaking parish nearby it would be much more beneficial. In Montreal for example it’s even worse. There’s no English speaking ROCOR churches either.
It’s a serious issue that doesn’t get talked about much .. we Orthodox say , leave Protestantism and be baptized in the Orthodox church but there’s so many hungry diverse Christians out there from different backgrounds who love the Lord and only one thing unites them all, the English language. Where are all these people gonna go ? The Greek Orthodox churches of Montreal ? 😂 ROCOR Montreal ? English is. In existent there. I know because I grew up in Montreal. Where is a Filipino or Tamil person supposed to go if they want to experience Orthodoxy?? Nowhere. The evangelicals have the monopoly on English speaking worship. It’s too bad 😢..
Catechumen here. I am full of joy to be united with the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church around Pascha. I heard it being brought up in this video that despair and life without faith are mortal sins. I am just curious, but what is the orthodox view on mortal sin? I know it cannot be the same as the Roman Catholic version of it, I am just wondering what it means in the orthodox context
Prodigal children. Welcome home.
Where does the chanting in the beginning of your videos come from?
it's Psalm 135 in Greek
Why is this still an ongoing conversation, is this video made for Protestants, the Orthodox and proper Christian stance is clear:
"One can reach the Father only through faith in Christ"
But
"Faith without works is dead"
ie:
We can be saved only by faith in Christ, but is your faith really true, if you don't follow what Christ has taught us (love thy neighbour, treat others as yourself, sheeps and goats parable, good samaritan parable, do not murder, blessed are the merciful, respect your parents, be charitable, etc etc)
Why not listen to the video before jumping to conclusions?
Exaxtly
@@living_orthodox What do you mean? What conclusion did I jump to?
@@cerebrummaximus3762 (Philippians 2, 12) "...WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION with fear and trembling.."
@@johnnyd2383 Yes, brother! ☦✝️
I wish the patriarch would require every parish have adult classes Sunday school and or classes for catechumens.
You understand a patriarch can't just impose a rule across every Orthodox church in the world right? We aren't papists.
@@Desertfox-o2xI know I’m Orthodox. Notice “Protestantism” I had “Left Behind.” It’s a play on their words of the heretical teaching of Protestantism rapture and millennialism.
@@ProtestantismLeftBehind yes I know. I just thought ur wording was weird.
@@Desertfox-o2xsry I could have explained more
@@ProtestantismLeftBehind ur good man
Thanks for the video.Can i ask something?Have the non orthodox people the chance to be saved outside of the church because of their good heart and intention?Can you make a video on this subject?
@Desertfox21 Thanks for your answer.I find it really helping.
I remember hearing a priest say this, and it really stuck with me:
"As Orthodox, we know who is saved, but not who isn't."
We consider the Orthodox faith to be a true one, and as long as you believe in Christ and follow Orthodoxy to all your efforts, you should be saved (keeping in mind that the Orthodox Church doesn't have the same view of salvation as born-again Christians, in the Orthodox Church there isn't a single moment you're saved, your salvation is a journey and you must not strive from the path).
However outside of the Orthodox faith, we can't tell you who is and isn't saved - only God knows.
We shouldn’t ever be so bold as to say such. There are Orthodox who think they’re guaranteed salvation. But he is right with regard to the witness of the lives of the saints.
I dont understand protestant points, they litterraly think we dont have faith just works, its like they are pointing at us and saying TRYHARD, and asking the developer to ban us
I only started knowing what Protestants believed in 2015 and it's all hairsplitting in regard to this topic.
@@LadyMaria yeah no matter what you say they will say works, but that interpretation of not losing salvation its literraly born out of predestination, its kinda like haha we are chosen(maybe) your not, jesus died for us(might have died) because we are not catholic. They have been chosen by birth..., they litterraly ressurected gnosticism, please let that heresy die.
@@Onlyafool172 Agreed!
☦️
I'm officially confused. I believed in mortal sin last summer, before I was catechuman, but one of my Greek parish priests said we don't belive in it because it is a Catholic innovation. So, I threw it out my mind. Now this St. Ignatius is saying there is mortal sin. Someone help my new convert self.
Similar to Catholicism Faith and Works. Is the manifestation of faith.
In the Catholic Church right now you have a battle between those of us who are for the traditional Latin mass and the modernists
@@philipschaffer9414
If the Papal Ecclesiology is true, then you must accept the New Masses as you cannot judge the First See on Morals or Faith.
The Orthodox Church is open and we want your strength here, instead of being wasted on a futile battle.
He is backing down somewhat on totally eliminating the Latin Mass
@@philipschaffer9414I left all that mess behind.
The Church and The Pope by Robert Spencer (former Eastern Catholic) might be helpful for you. Easy, short, and written out of love for Roman Catholics.
I am looking for a Orthodox Church in New Zealand, Waikato region that will take on a catechumen. Please reply to this message if you can help please? God bless.
Thank you for your reply. At present I am over 2 hours away from that church and have no transport of my own. I have recently bought a motorcycle that I am saving money to have made repairs on. I also need to pass my motorcycle test to ride it once it is up and running.(This all being done to get to church) I am hoping to find somewhere closer by in the mean time if I can and perhaps share the cost of travel to church with?@Desertfox21
@@MrJch24
Email the Priest there and see if anyone else is making the trip.
I just did that a second before you posted. Thank you.@@acekoala457
Thank you again for your help.I will keep praying on this matter too.@Desertfox21
Maybe st george? Look up Father Ovidiu Anton Motofelea on google
Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV
[8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Out of context, dishonest and not an argument. It’s a strawman and you should be ashamed of this intellectual dishonesty.
@@living_orthodox I just quote the Bible verse, but look at his anger. You hate this verse.
@@living_orthodox Then, explain this verses
@ESV445 It’s not that he hates the verse it’s how you use the verse to justify your doctrine of sola fide. When you see someone trying to use a verse to justify their idea that being gay is okay you’re not going to hate the verse they use but how they’re use of it.
@ESV445 Read the very next verse. It talks about good works. When we first come to Christ we have no works to offer Him, but only faith and repentance. When you receive the gift of salvation you enter into a covenant in which you honor God with good works.
Hey, can you explain to me more why Mar Mari Emmanuel is a heretic? Is it because he's not part of the Orthodox church?
@Desertfox21 I read a thread on that and many people said he doesn't actually believe that and his sermons have said otherwise. Not sure which is true
@@Zappacuda he contradicts himself to appease all audiences
Reception of heterodox by chrismation only is wrong, those people are still technically Orthodox but then so were the Pharisees at the time before the new covenant right... It's not something you want on your soul, it requires correction or repentance itself as a concept is rendered useless. How do we say the confession of the faith, the Creed, but in praxis we have abandoned the order which the Creed lays out. So Baptism is meant to be the greatest of all the works second to the Eucharistic union itself, when we talk about faith and works all that is dead without the water of life. Christ is the foundation, the origin, the Alpha, and the end, the purpose, of all. He is the whole of the faith, the summary of it, and the grace giver for spiritual good works. If we deny the Holy Tradition of baptism then our union with Christ is toast, like if I don't change my oil my car becomes toast, the baptism is the changing of the faith to the Orthodox one which is essential before all the other micro works can happen. The praxis of today is, well we avoid any spiritual laws which upset people in any kind of political or philosophical or sensual ways, in the carnal ways. It's for the state of the union among men that the methodology of divine union with Christ is put aside in this way or that, and then eventually the very concept of holiness / faith becomes something alien and threatening. Christ was divisive. In baptism he divides us from our own self, so we can put on Him. He divides the old and the new covenant, giving Himself as a rock, one that raises up the faithful and causeth those who do war against the faith to stumble. The rock is hard but out of it comes the water of life, the gentle spirit of truth, the salvific manna, the perichoretic uniting energy. That is the same water which turns the heart of stone to one of flesh, one of humanity, which is what we all require. And baptism goes on and on in the life of repentance, the water gives the power or spirit, to empower the ongoing repentance, and that is how its renewed according to Holy Tradition, so we just need it once, full and proper, and the matter is SEALED thereafter with the Holy Chrismation, then we go into the sacramental INNER SANCTUM which is Christ Himself, we put on Christ. That is real Orthodoxy, not what we see today all over the world which is really unchecked clerical apostasy and many converts being abused/neglected/mislead and getting lead down that same path. SO, let us ask, how many bishops does it take to screw a light bulb, to read the Fathers, and to go by the correct authority structure of the Holy Spirit? For we are now in times when one priest can steal all their grace from them by doing the right thing by the sacramentology of Christ, as they are doing the wrong thing together, indeed a mysterious thing but real... Once upon a time we the Church actually did the faith together, united, but many are stumbling on Christ's word, now the local bishop is like a pope sealing division and confusion. He makes it impossible for the priest to do the right thing. So let's get that fixed and we will see the faith explode, until then we are all together in a conundrum leading to a sealed deal of division from Christ in order to have permission to be apart of base society. If we can't heal the clergy then it's definitely gonna get biblical, historical regularity cannot be maintained by the Holy Spirit, the world will fall, since all that is propping it up for centuries now is the presence of the Orthodox faithful. It doesn't have to go that way in our life time, it can be avoided, but we are going to need some more elder Ephraim of arizona's to rise up...
@Desertfox21 St John of Damascus says there are eight forms of baptism, the proper official one being number five, and only one of them does not save, number 8, which is the purifying fire of hell. So through tears of repentance or martyrdom an officially non baptized person can be baptised and saved - but I am no expert on how to have tears of repentance or how to acquire a legit martyrdom so I won't try to expound upon what St John Damascus wrote. But essentially to answer your question one true form of baptism must occur, number 5/6/7, since Christ said without Baptism we can't be saved. Does Church history have saints who lacked any Orthodox baptism? I don't know but it definitely has no saints which claim that Holy Baptism is not necessary, that it's not a capital S Sacrament vital to tradition. And many canons state that if you recognize the sacraments of any non Orthodox that's a violation... Do we have saints who are in word or deed not 100 percent in line with the canons? Sure, who is really perfect but Christ? - but those imperfections do not become holy tradition. There are saints which claimed baptism outside the one true Church is valid, but their error is not maintained as Holy Tradition, that is not how doctrine operates.
@Desertfox21 Doesnt matter if they're a saint, reception was still messed up. You're not a saint so go get corrective baptism. That's what the athonite elders dictate is the right thing to do.
@Desertfox21 In Orthodoxy exceptions and rules are kept seperate.
@Desertfox21 and before you say well how dare you assume you know better than thousands of bishops and priests, well I say how dare all they together assume they can undermine the patristic tradition, one man can maintain the correct position while all of them fall away. Look at the iconoclast period, happened before in church history and the Church still made it through thanks to the cohesion of the Holy Spirit. So you can attempt to knit together this grand theory that baptism and priesthood doesn't really need to be Orthodox like everything else, it really doesn't add up and the patristic tradition is quite clear and concise throughout Church history. It's just a collection of bad arguments based on situations of exceptional saints. There are many saints like many desert fathers that literally couldn't ever find baptism in their life, they lived among Muslims and all kinds of things, but they all maintained grace and did miracles right... Did they all in unison reject Orthodox Baptism? No of course not. So you're misusing their lives to create a novel about baptism being an open tradition not requiring Orthodoxy.
@Desertfox21 Again, see that there are saints which did many things which are exceptional and not good for us. St paisios would actually self harm. Other saints would walk into fires. All of these things are mysterious, they are not standard, we do not try them because we are pathetic unlike the saints. Go to the three most important saints, the three Holy heirarchs, they all have lengthy writings about sacramentology, they say the baptism of non Orthodox is a pagan pollution of the soul. That's what the athonite tradition is based on, apostolic and cappadocian era dogma. Your dogma comes from post enlightenment protestant ecumenists and it's a direct violation of Christ, all who approach the mysteries first must be catechized, baptized, chrismated, AND ONLY THEN are they officially ready for deeper repentance and theosis. Those who grasp after theosis without the right steps taken are violators of Christ, such as a woman who lays her hands on another woman's husband.
Once faith has been received...it begins its works which are righteousness....
@Desertfox21 Not disputing the capacity of sin but trusting in God who gave us faith to also sustain our works ...Hebrews 4:14-16
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
@Desertfox21
Please read these two verses together. It should help you.
1 John 2:1-2
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Hebrews 10:26-27
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
@Desertfox21 Everything I said is based on scripture and personal experiences. I cannot explain further.😀
By declaring saints and anathemas, you do dare speak to the judgement of God.
The Church has that right. Read John. Did Jesus not say “I give you the power to bind and loose. What you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven?
@@living_orthodox I see so as an individual you say you can’t make those decisions but the church can? I can understand that delineation. I disagree but I get the view if I’m getting right.